Arctic Forest

On a particular dark winter night, in the far-reaching north, a group of Samis witnessed what seemed like thousands of flames falling from the sky. As these flames crashed and split open the earth, a thunderous sound was emanated. Little did they know, these falling flames would one day cause a meteor frenzy among the neighboring Russians and Finns. For decades, groups of meteor enthusiasts would travel this ancient land in search of those special space rocks. But, as the years came and went, fewer and fewer of these groups were ever seen again. Those who came early, took whatever they could find in the darkness of the winter nights without ever being spotted leaving the forests. 

Although these meteors fell from the sky many years ago, Lara knew in the bottom of her heart that there must be more of these rocks still hidden away under the mossy arctic swamp. To find these missing meteors, all she needed to do is follow her instincts and let her own personal compass guide her to her treasure.

Lara has always been fascinated with finding treasure. For years, she has dreamt of finding dinosaur fossils or a forgotten treasure chest in the middle of nowhere. She knew if she were ever to find such treasure, she would be set for life and never have to work an office job ever again.

But Lara has always been a dreamer, and never a realist. With her passion and her never ending dreams as the catalyst of her life, one Saturday morning, Lara lets her feet carry her away from her parent’s cabin and into the meteor forest land. Lara walked and walked for several hours scanning the forest floor with her metal detector in her hands. Within this time span, she managed to find a couple of old beer cans and several rusty nails. Nothing of value for her at all.

As she walked in the forest, an intrusive thought began creeping into her mind sending shivers running through her spine. It was bear season and she was walking all alone in a forest filled with scattered reindeer bones. Every time she spotted a reindeer bone, the more frightened and paranoid she became that a bear was watching her every step. It’s time to head back, she thought.

Lara began retracing her steps back to her parent’s cabin, but on the way back, she saw several lightning rays spears through the sky and then, five second later, some thunderous sounds so loud it caused her ears to ring.

Lara became even more frightened by the second. She began running as fast as she could while holding on to her metal detector with both of her hands. At some point along the forest, Lara became confronted with a fork she had never seen before. She didn’t know whether to take left or right, all she knew was that she needed to get back to her parents before they began to worry or before the impending storm began to fall on her head. In the arctic, even when it rains, the cold is always present and ready to steal anyone’s warm breath from their lungs. Lara knew that if she wanted to get home safe, she had to make a decision fast, so she went left to go along the river.

While running as fast as she could, the rain drops began sipping into her eyes, causing her vision to blur. With her impaired vision, Lara suddenly tumbles forward and lands hard on her metal detector. The fall knocked the air out of her lungs. After Lara manages to gulp in the wet air, she lets out a cry of agony. Luckily, her metal detector did not break, but her spirit was in shambles. How can a seemingly nice day turn into this mess?

Looking behind her, Lara spots the silver-black rock that made her trip and fall. Curious, she grabs her metal detector and checks whether this rock that caused her downfall is her meteor. As she probes the rock with her metal detector, Lara hears what she had been dreaming to hear for a long time: the sound of a continuous loud beep. It was a space rock.

With the rain and mud running through her face, Lara tries to pick off the meteor, but to her surprise, it is a lot heavier than she could have ever imagined. She could not run with the meteor and the metal detector at the same time. She figured, if she could sell her space rock for several thousands of dollars, she could buy ten other metal detectors.

Sitting on the wet dirt, Lara begins to push the rock from the side and removes it from the ground. The rock was a nice solid size.

The difficult part was carrying it to the cabin, but Lara felt she wasn’t too far away from home. Squatting down, Lara picks up the rock and begins squabbling towards her parent’s cabin. On her way, the storm became stronger with thunder and lightning scattering through the sky closer and closer to her by the minute. The rain got to be so intense, Lara could barely see in front of her. Tired from lifting the heavy rock, Lara drops the rock to rest her back. But, as soon as she drops it, a slice of the earth takes the rock in a mud slide down towards the river bank. Lara, tired, did not care to rush to get it. She knew the rock wasn’t going too far.

As she recollects herself and brushes her wet hair from her face, a lightning so bright strikes in the middle of the river bank. Lara, blinded by the bright light and booming sound, falls to her back. Her ears ringing in pain were too much for her to bear. She stays laying on the ground for a solid twenty minutes trying to recuperate from what just happened. As the twenty minutes pass, the rain, the lightning, and the thunder cease. Lara sits up. She is alive, but not so well. Shock and curious, Lara crawls towards the edge of where the mudslide took away her rock, and she stares down towards the river bank.

The meteor was split open by the lightning and it was emanating a crystal blue light. With this sudden surprise, Lara regained her focus, and climbed down the hill’s wall. Once she got to the river bank, she paused and stared at the now glowing rock. Lara was frightened but her curiosity got the best of her. A few steps forward and she was in front of the space rock. She squats down and stares blankly into the light.

Mesmerized by what she had in front of her eyes, Lara sees the source of the light. To her, it looked like a glowing crystal orb. Inching herself closer, Lara begins to notice something else. On the surface of the orb, she could make out faces. Faces with mouths wide open as if they were singing or screaming. Hypnotized, Lara lets her fingers gravitate towards the orb. On her fingers, it felt smooth like a marble and cold. Strangely cold. So cold she could feel the chill reaching her finger bones. Her hand, it now feels like it’s on fire and her hair suddenly has static. The glowing light, it seems like it’s charge with electricity. The current is running through her! Exploding like a lightning, in a split of a second, there is only Lara’s silhouette. And her face, on the surface the orb, vanishes as the meteor clams shut.